Retrograde amnesia

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caused by

Korsakoff’s syndrome

In addition, sufferers almost always show evidence of
retrograde amnesia that can span as little as a few weeks past to as much as 15 or 20 years before onset of the disorder. These extensive
retrograde amnesias are seldom total or uniform, and “islands” of memory often can be found by persistent interrogation. The person’s memory function depends heavily on circumstances; for...

trauma

...condition, the individual appears unable to store new memories; on recovery he commonly reports total amnesia for the period of altered consciousness (posttraumatic amnesia). He also is apt to show
retrograde amnesia that may extend over brief or quite long periods into the past, the duration seeming to depend on such factors as severity of injury and the sufferer’s age. In the gradual course...

memory disorder

Since
retrograde amnesia relates to memory for events that took place when brain function was unimpaired, it clearly cannot be ascribed to failure of registration—with the exception, perhaps, of the very brief permanent amnesias following electroconvulsive shock or head injury. Retrograde amnesia otherwise would appear to be wholly due to a failure of retrieval, though this failure is...

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